AdaDavis's Full Review: Vance Randolph - Roll Me in Your Arms: Unprintable...
How do you print a book of “unprintable” songs? And for that matter, what would make a song “unprintable”? In the case of this book, the 180 songs were considered “too obscene for print” by respectable publishing houses.
The Author and His Work
Vance Randolph is something of a legend in the Ozarks. He had a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s in Psychology when he moved to Pineville, Missouri in 1919. For the next 30 years, while working as a freelance writer, Randolph traveled to the remote corners of the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks, collecting songs, stories, riddles, jokes, folklore and superstitions. The result was a series of books: Ozark Magic and Folklore, Ozark Ghost Stories, Ozark Folksongs, and a book of tall tales called We Always Lie to Strangers.
The stories were sometimes funny, and sometimes sad or eerie or bawdy - and sometimes verged on the obscene. The author wanted to record and document them all, but his publishers balked. To the author’s chagrin, all material that was considered “socially unacceptable” was excised from the books. In 1976, a collection of the culled folktales was published by the University of Illinois Press as Pissing in the Snow & Other Ozark Folktales. It was later republished by Avon Books. The songs, however, remained “unprintable” until 1992, when they were collected and published by the University of Arkansas Press. (I can only conclude that some words must sound more obscene when sung. )
“Unprintable” Folksongs
Bawdy songs are of many flavors in the Ozarks. The simplest is the type where certain words are replaced by a pause or humming sound, with the actual words left to the imagination. They may be followed by a line which finishes the thought with a completely innocent turn of phrase. The author noted that in Galena, Missouri, parents were outraged that a 12-year-old student was teaching their children a “dirty song.” The school board was baffled by what action to take, as the song didn’t actually contain any forbidden words.
There was a young farmer who lived by the sea,
A handsome young farmer who played with his (pause)
Peanuts and popcorn in springtime of yore,
He met a young lady he thought was a (pause)
Decent young lady …
And, of course, there’s the innuendo that contains no “actual dirty words” :
Her mother never told her
The things a young girl should know,
About the ways of college men,
And how they come and go …
There are sprightly little tunes that you can find yourself singing while wandering around the local Wal-Mart, and never even realize what you are singing until you are confronted by a couple of scowling mothers trying to cover their children’s ears. (“Not that this has ever happened to me personally,” she said with a look of wide-eyed innocence.)
Do your balls hang low?
Can you drag ‘em in the snow?
Can you tie ‘em in a knot?
Can you tie ‘em in a bow?
Can you throw ‘em o‘er your shoulder
Like a drunken British soldier?
Do your ---balls ---hang ---low?
There’s nothing an Ozark native loves more than overly sentimental sad songs, because they are ripe for parody. Skewered and turned inside out, such “rewritten” tear fests are sung with mock sentimentality that is often “obscenely funny.” There are a number of “remastered” versions of famous songs. House of the Rising Sun, which is an old tale of a girl left penniless and forced into work at a brothel, is a favorite. They are usually rewritten as the tale of a poor hillbilly’s first visit to the city, where he is “ruined” for farm work by his visit to the local “House of Ill Repute.”
Go tell my younger brother
Not to do as I have done,
And shun the house in New Orleans
That’s called the Rising Sun.
And so on, including some songs I would rather not list the titles for, much less the verses. The bits that I've quoted are among the few that are marginally repeatable in polite society. Some of the song titles will make you blush.
How This book is Organized
For each of the 180 songs, the author begins with the musical notation and song sheet that is most common, followed by variations of both the music and the verses. For each version, he lists the date, time and place the song was recorded, and who sang it for him. He also notes any relationship to earlier folksongs, and discusses words and phrases used in the song. In many cases, there are phrases which contain hidden or obscure meanings which have been forgotten over time, but have meaning within the song. In this way, each song is also a mini-lesson in folklore.
My Thoughts on the Book
There’s a fine old tradition in the Ozarks of handing down folksongs, one generation to the next. In most cases, the kiddies learn the songs at mama’s knee. Some of the ones in this book, however, were learned with an ear to the door where our parents were hosting a party, well after our bedtime when we were assumed to be asleep. The problem with this type of learning is that thick doors tend to distort the words and interrupt the learning process. It’s hard to preserve the authentic versions of songs under those circumstances, so this book is truly educational. (“Oh, so THAT’s what they were actually singing! Who knew?” she muttered.)
At nearly 600 pages and the heft of a “History of Everything and Everyone” textbook, this is not a book you are likely to carry around for some light reading. However, accompanied by it’s matching Volume II: Blow the Candle Out, this book makes a nice 4-pound hand weight. (The titles for the two volumes are from an old song: In your arms, my true love, once and twice about, Come roll me in your arms, my love, and blow the candle out. ) It also makes a nice coffee table book, if you like to surprise your guests with some educational fare. The book will open up and stay put if you want to put it on the piano and play from the included sheet music. This is recommended, as the songs come across best when sung along with the appropriate musical score. Not recommended for children’s libraries or for the local church choir.
A Shameless Plug for Free Presses
University presses publish books that are considered “unpublishable” by the mainstream publishing houses. Some books are of local interest and do not have a large enough reader base to interest the publishers, while others are either too academic or cover topics too controversial to interest a commercial publisher. You can find your own local University Press, and a list of published works, here: http://aaupnet.org/membership/directory.html
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